Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,21

been more of a tragedy recently.”

“Oh, stop being so dramatic.” She laughed again.

I swiped a hand across my brow, grinning before I threw my arms out to my sides. “I’m an actress, darling. I was born to be dramatic.”

“You just had to throw in the ‘darling,’ didn’t you?” She made air quotes with her fingers, shaking her head while trying to get her laughter under control.

“You know it.” I winked before getting serious again. “What are your plans for the holidays? Any handsome strangers I should know about?”

“Sadly, no. Cash and I are going to my aunt’s upstate. I’m pretty sure the youngest man in her community is in his eighties. He’s a sweet old man, but I just don’t really see anything happening there.”

“Maybe he has a hot son or grandson coming in for Christmas?” I suggested hopefully. Tani was a romantic. Despite that, I knew she’d given up on finding love for herself but I was still holding out hope for her.

She rolled her eyes. “First, she tells me I look great and then she tries to make me believe I’ll be falling in love with someone in Mr. Tanner’s family. You do know you’re really bad at lying, right?”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’m going to be working on it with Carter actually. But I’m not lying to you. I’m trying out your whole optimism thing, and you really do look great.”

“Maybe you should leave the optimism to me. The last thing I need right now is to fall in love. I’d rather not even think about it.”

“And you say I’m bad at lying.” I gave my head a brief shake before we lapsed into silence for a few minutes.

I loved this part of the trail even more than the rest of it—especially at this time of year. Between the trees, I caught glimpses of the city streets being decorated for Christmas.

Lights were going up and others were already there. Most of the stores had festive décor in the windows, and every now and then, I spotted a tree inside.

Warmth filled my heart and a smile spread across my face. My life felt a little crazy right now, but Christmas was still my favorite time of year. There had been a time not so long ago when I’d been at such a low point that I didn’t even really believe I’d live to see another Christmas.

I knew better now, but I’d made myself a promise back then to treasure every moment, and I planned on keeping it. The crispness of the air, the smell of cinnamon wafting from the bakery I knew was up ahead, and even the sounds of traffic from the streets nearby were things I took a moment to appreciate.

Eventually, Tani and I slowed to a walk and grabbed our coffees from a nearby truck when we were done. She held her mug in both hands as she nodded at the Broadway poster overhead. “Are you looking forward to being on one of those again soon?”

The warm fuzzies I’d been feeling crashed into my stomach lining. “I was, but not so much anymore. Did Jules tell you about what happened with Nathan Biles?”

“No.” She frowned. “What did that creep do now?”

“He found out about Wicked somehow.” I was still miffed that he knew about it. “Have you heard any rumors?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Definitely nothing that specific.” Worry darkened her eyes when she looked at me. “It really weird. As far as I know, everyone has been doing a good job of keeping your part in it under wraps.”

My teeth sank into the inside of my lower lip. “That’s what I thought, too. He was either guessing or there’s a rat somewhere. It’s pretty difficult to believe that, though.”

Tani shrugged. “I suppose there could be a rat, but I don’t believe it either. He’s probably just guessing. There has been a lot of suspense around the mystery person who’s going to be the witch. The promo campaign has really played up that angle.”

“Yeah, they have. You’re right. It has to be that.” There was a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I was blaming that on the paranoia Nathan had inspired.

This was Broadway, for heaven’s sake, not a matter of national security. Sure, it had happened before that details got leaked to the press and those kinds of things, but that happened everywhere.

Nathan was just a creepy reporter, just like Tani had said. He wasn’t a spy, and hopefully, he wasn’t actually